FAQs

Catching Memories in the Moment

Does Tre Anni have a toilet on board? 

​

Our boat, Tre Anni does not have a "head" or a toilet.  Just before you board the boat there are six well maintained washrooms with toilets and sinks to use before we depart on your tour. Please use them. If we have to come back to the harbour for a washroom break it could take away from your tour or shorten your private charter.

​​

Can we combine tour types?​

​

Shipwreck Legends and Lore go well with Flowerpots and Geological Formations, Bad Neighbour Rock runs as well as Lighthouse Lore. The Grotto, Cliffs, Caverns and Caves works well with sunset tours. Lighthouse tours work well with Bard Neighbour Rock runs and Sunset tours or Stellar Night tours. Fishing charters are slow and steady but they work well with some of the Cliffs and Caverns portion of the tour and are a great way to end with the Sunset tour. Bird Watching can work with any tour except the Stellar Night tour, probably the best combo is with the Grotto, Cliffs, Caverns and Caves. We will have to let the wind and wave conditions dictate what will be our best course to plot.  Let us know your preference and we will do our best to meet your desire.

​

Can we fish in Fathom Five National Marine Park?

​

​Come experience fishing in the Fathom Five National Marine Park. You must have a current Ontario Fishing License.

Drop a line and take the time to enjoy the slow tour of the shoreline of the Upper Bruce Peninsula and the Niagara Escarpment along the shores of the Bruce Peninsula National Park, Canada. 

We call it fishing because that's what we do. We would rather call it "catching," that is the goal. We will be fishing for Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Salmon, Steelhead, and Rainbow Trout. Come tackle the adventure and catch a memory you'll never forget!

​

​

What are the best fishing spots?

​

Some of our favourite strike zones are the Dufferin Drop, Niagara Wall, Point Plucky, Watsons Wall, Mermaids Hole, & Hopkins Horseshoe to name a few. 

Can we see the Grotto from these tours?

​

​Well known to many is the Grotto, most people get here with a short trek through the trail from the daytime parking, accessible at Cypress Lake Campground in the Bruce Peninsula National Park. If you are lucky, you can reserve a two hour time slot in the parking lot to hike the trail.  Definitely worth the hike. Or...

​

​Park in town and enjoy the boat ride on Tre Anni, that takes you along the shoreline of the Bruce Peninsula National Park and within the Fathom Five National Marine Park. On route to the Grotto, there are endless cliffs, many with overhangs over top of crevices and caverns. See the mass of people visiting the Grotto, who made the hike from the parking lot at Cypress Lake. Then we can pass by to see the caves at Cave Point. This amazing journey is dependent on wind and wave conditions.

​

​​

Is there a shipwreck viewing during these tours?

​

Shipwreck tours are surface viewing only and viewing is dependant upon sunlight, waves, water clarity, commercial boat schedules and time of season. The beauty of the shipwreck tour allows beautiful views along the shorelines, cliffs and caverns, while you hear the tales of ships lost long ago.

​

To view the shipwrecks from above Big Tub Harbour you will need to join the glass bottom boat tours with either Blue Heron Cruises or Bruce Anchor Cruises.  To Scuba Dive or go on a snorkel tour you will need to book with Divers Den.  

​

From the depths down below, bubbles billow to the surface as divers explore the maritime graveyard of the Fathom Five National Marine Park. From the surface, in the shallows, we can witness wrecks, the ribs wrenched by wind and waves, while worried crews abandoned bilge pumps and their posts, to launch yawl boats and abandon ship to get shelter on shore. 

​

Some of the logs are lost, just scattered entries from points of registry. The fewer the facts known, the more room for embellishments of probable cause of loss, leaving room for entertaining tales. 

​

Are we going to see Flowerpot Island & geological formations?

​

​The Bruce Peninsula National Park is a geological trove of amazement. Aside from the overhangs, cliffs, caves and caverns, there are two legendary formations called the Flowerpots. There is mysticism in the creation of these two monolithic maidens, or is it the maiden and man? Wait for the lore and the legend to be told when you see them in person, face to face.  

Some things you can only see from the water, and these two geological beauties unfortunately fall into that category. Parks Canada only licenses two companies The Blue Heron Company and Bruce Anchor Cruises, to land people on the island for hikes along the trails. You will have it better, secluded on the serenity of Tre Anni, intimate and alone with only the company you keep. Private perfection.

​

​This portion of the tour works well with the Lighthouse tours and the Shipwrecks Legends and Lore.

​

​

Are there lighthouses to see along the way?

​

​Tobermory is home to three functional lighthouses. Lighthouse Point, Cove Island Light and Flowerpot Light. These aids to navigation were built over a century ago to aid mariners in navigating the uncharted waters of Upper Canada in the 1800's. They were manned by lighthouse keepers and their families until becoming automated in the past thirty years. We can make a brief stop at the Cove Island Light station to stretch your legs if the wind and wave conditions allow.

​

​These empty automated lighthouses are beacons of a time long ago, when sailors, blind in the dense cloud covered night, would look to the far off glow of some distant point to navigate safely to a port of shelter for a warm meal and a dry bed. They are still critical to the many boats, ships and freighters that ply the Great Lakes today. As solemn sentries in the night sky, their lights shine on.

​

This tour works well with Sensational Sunset tours and or the Stellar Night tours.

 ​

What kind of birds will we be able to see?​

​

While we are touring the waters of Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, a major northern migration route, we frequently see many species of birds and water fowl, including many types of Terns, Woodland Ducks, Long-tailed Ducks, Black Scoters, Northern Pintails, Egrets, Gulls, Great Blue Herons, Owls, Bald Eagles, Osprey, Golden Eagles, Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, Turkey Vultures, Cormorants, Belted Kingfishers, several types of Swans, Canada Geese, and the Great Northern Loon to name a few.

​

​We might not be able to identify every bird but we will have bird identification books on board and a great set of binoculars to become more familiar with the vast array of feathered friends that soar along the shoreline. 

​​

Are there sunset tour options?

​

Have an intimate night aboard Tre Anni. Watch the spectacular colours change along the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment. The setting sun intensifies its glorious gleam and gilds the cliffs and clouds with golden colours of another sensational sunset. Slowly the twilight deepens and lifts the veil that conceals the stars. Combine this experience with a Stellar Night Tour and make that wish come true.

​

Along the horizon you will see the glow of the lighthouses and navigation stations, established over a hundred years ago to aid the sailors, who navigate these capricious waters with shallow shoals emerging from over four hundred feet to less than a fathom. 

​

​Bring your own snacks or request hot chocolate, a charcuterie, a shrimp ring or perhaps sashimi from the days fresh catch.  

​

Can we see fireworks on board Tre Anni during festivals?

​

Dates June 16th and July 1st Canada Day 2022

Watch fireworks shower overhead while floating peacefully beneath the sky on Tre Anni, as balls of light boom above, while sparkles of light dazzle down or shimmer symmetrically in a rainbow of colours.

​

Around the summer solstice when it is Chi-Cheemaun weekend, there are Fireworks over Little Tub Harbour, to celebrate the beginning of the summer schedule for the Chi-Chemaun Ferry.

On July 1st, Canada Day, Tobermory offers a spectacular night of fireworks, wind and weather dependent. 

Either of these nights of fireworks could be combined with a sunset tour or a starlit night tour or both.  

​

Sounds like a great night for a catered event!  Ask for a charcuterie board or some other WetRock catered creation.  

Can we see the stars?

​

Brave the northern nights aboard Tre Anni. Lounge beneath the stars off the tip of the Bruce Peninsula at the end of the Niagara Escarpment, and dare to witness the constellations like few have ever seen.

Watch the majesty of the mother moon rise over the horizon or bask beneath her beauty while she rounds her cradle out as we bob along the surface, away from the glum glowing of city lights. On the nights of a new moon, in her time of mourning, the stars are bright bedazzling beyond compare. Make a wish as shooting stars fall, scattering light in streams as they blast through the stratosphere.

Sometimes, and I mean sometimes, we can sit in awe of the beauty of the aurora borealis, the northern lights dancing across the stellar sky in these northern nights. 

​

​Listen in silence under a cozy blanket, with a nice cup of hot chocolate or rock out to your playlist with onboard Bluetooth boomers beneath the Stellar Night Tours.

​

What other unique things can we do on your tour?

​

Just northeast of the northern tip of Cove Island Light is a pinnacle whose peak lays in the shallows of open lake, silent and unseen. It has the ability to rip the hull open of a ship blown off course in a heavy sea. It is the bad neighbour you don't want to come across.

With the shallow depth of the pinnacle of Bad Neighbour, if conditions allow, you could stand in the shallows in the middle of a vast and open channel. This could be a great place for a photo opportunity of a person standing in the middle of the lake. Let us know if this is a desire of yours and if winds and waves allow, we can make this happen.

​​

Will we be able to watch whales?

​No. Just for fun, while we are touring the waters of Tobermory, we can discuss the many invasive species that have become a part of the ecosystem of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. One of the latest invasive species are the bloody red shrimp. A light sensitive species that rest in the shadows of overhangs and crevices in the escarpment below the waterline. They form nebulas clouds of pink and at night their eyes glow red in the reflection of a divers light. Individually they are quite small, almost microscopic, like tiny sea monkeys or krill, perhaps even plankton.  Imagine if this abundant food source could host a better invasive species, whales!

​

​Captain Mike spent a season in Dominica as assistant manager of a dive shop and whale watching operation at Dive Castaways.  If there is a spout he will see it.  "There she blows!"  Back then he could not guarantee a whale sighting but in Tobermory he can guarantee that there won't be any whales spotted, unfortunately. Not yet anyway, but anything is as possible as it is improbable.

If you enter your goal as "whale watching" that tells your Captain you are easy going and want to see anything and everything but have no expectations. You just want to get out on the water and have a good time. Lets go have fun while Whale Watching in Wonderment of the surroundings.

What options do we have if we wish to bring food on board?

​

​In case you have not read Michael Marcotte's bio, he has over seven year experience in a commercial kitchen as a line cook, prep cook and caterer. Although he does not have access to a commercial kitchen now, he knows the importance of a clean kitchen and proper food handling. He can offer simple snacks, Charcuterie, Ceviche, Sashimi and Hors d'Oeuvres prepared with his love for the culinary craft.  

Some sample ideas for your catered experience will be: charcuterie boards, (crackers, deli meats, cheeses, olives and fruit of the day), fresh bruschetta on toasted baguette slices, cheese tray with assorted crackers, Sashimi (Sushi grade from fish monger bought frozen Salmon and Tuna) or from the catch of the day, ceviche  and sashimi, if you're savvy, hot clam or seafood chowder for the cool shoulder season tours and of course the all so simple bloody red shrimp rings (just a normal shrimp ring).

​

Hot Beverages include Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate. Cold beverages can be water, or whatever you request.  Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on a Transport Canada certified vessel. Please do not bring any glass on board for safety putpses. Please give us advance warning of your preferences and any dietary requirements.

​

All menu items will be subject to daily market prices.  We may add or remove more options as the season develops.

​

​Please add your catered wish to special requests.